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Morrissey boxset review in Q
posted by davidt on Tuesday July 11 2000, @08:45AM

 Also submitted by madonna:

From Q magazine:
Aggrieved of Salford

Twelve long years of feeling hard done by. Morrissey won't show you his stigmata.

In his last interview with a publication from the British Isles, The Irish Times in November 1999, 41-year-old Stephen (sic) Patrick Morrissey claimed that "there is an extreme disregard for anything I do in Britain", promptly disproving the allegation with a sold-out UK tour received with typically rabid fervour by British Morrissey fans. If only he would stop saying such silly things... but it was ever thus.

(more)


If a crucible for Morrissey's baffling persecution complex were sought, you might find it here, in this cigarette box-style receptable of 10 CD singles. Bracketing the post-Smiths, pre-Your Arsenal solo period, it is a story of lost momentum and creeping paranoia, fascinatingly betrayed in the ultra-personal lyrics of the B-sides (always the place where rock stars speak to their most loyal fans). Often there is unique Morrissey wit - as in Disappointed's hilarious coda "This is the last song I will ever sing (cheers)/No I've changed my mind again (groans)". Increasingly, there are "oh shut up" moments - eg "They're only trying to make their name by spreading sickening lies" from the ghastly, rinky-dink Journalists Who Lie.

Musically, losing writer/producer Stephen Street (later crucial to the rise of Blur) was crippling: the Spector-meets-Betjeman vista of Everyday Is Like Sunday needs no reintrouction, but Street's marshalling of strings and Vini Reilly's needlepoint guitar on Will Never Marry is a rarer treat. Morrissey sounds confident, wry and self-mocking, yet he waved goodbye to Street after the well-crafted Thatcher-kids-on-E sociology of Interesting Drug and ushered in a too-long era of gutless parody rockabilly presided over by quintessentially 80s producers Langer & Winstanley. November Spawned A Monster sounds like an outtake from the third Lloyd Cole & The Commotions album; Picadilly Palare B-side Get Off The Stage was a joke most journalists were unable to resist, and the listless Sing Your Life (Morrissey by now reduced to accepting songwriting "help" from Mark "Fairground Attraction" Nevin and his bastard accordion) flogged the already very dead horse that was the Kill Uncle album. Morrissey sounds sorry for himself - rightly, for a change.

The last single presented here, Pregnant For The Last Time, isn't much of a song, but the proper rockabilly treatment by ex-Polecats Alain White and Boz Boorer presages the excellence that was soon to come in the shape of Your Arsenal and (better still) Vauxhall And I. A keen reminder that Morrissey has pulled himself out of deeper ruts that he's in right now. Hint, hint. (3 stars)

Danny Eccleston

Standout Tracks - Suedehead, Everyday is like Sunday, The Last Of The Famous International Playboys

Influenced by.. Vince Taylor The Early Sides Big Beat, 1997
Influence on... Gene Olympian Costermonger, 1991(sic)

 
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    This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
    Morrissey boxset review in Q | Log in/Create an Account | Top | 15 comments | Search Discussion
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    The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
    If only... (Score:1)
    If only Morrissey could return to the caliber of the Street years....oh the days of Viva Hate...
    Morrissey Sucks -- Tuesday July 11 2000, @01:18PM (#764)
    (User #310 Info)
     Morrissey Sucks (and all is well)!
      Q review (Score:2)
      I'm not a unquestioning Moz fan or a big hater of Q but this review highlights the lack in a lot of British music journalism. The references are lame, the arguments are tired and lazy and the writer obviously has one eye permanently on his career path. Never mind Morrissey or the Smiths, does he even like music ? Or is it just the bit before and the soundtrack during the backstage party at the Coldplay gig ? Poor sod.
      Anonymous -- Tuesday July 11 2000, @01:52PM (#766)
      • Re:Q review by Anonymous (Score:0) Wednesday July 12 2000, @03:02AM
        • Re:Q review by LoafingOaf (Score:1) Wednesday July 12 2000, @11:52PM
          • Re:Q review by Anonymous (Score:0) Thursday July 13 2000, @04:03AM
              Re:Q review (Score:2, Interesting)


              So who does matter in the general scheme of things? Christina Aguilera?

              When you really think about it, only a small handful of the artists the music press champions were really that important. Longer is the list of artists the press ignored until years later they looked back and saw their importance in hindsight.

              I'm not saying that will be the case with Morrissey. All I know is I like his songs a great deal, so in my world he's vitally important. To most of the world, yes, he's pretty irrelevant. But at least he's touched a few of us.

              There's a funny thing about the culture today. I haven't been alive long enough to know if this is new or not. But there's seems to be a notion that if the press isn't giving something hype, and if the awards shows aren't giving something trophies, and if something isn't burning up the charts, that there's something "wrong" with it. A lot of are only interested in whatever Entertainment Weekly is talking about. If a movie isn't setting records at the box office, it's a "failure" people aren't interested in. If a singer isn't charting high and getting the cover of magazines, he must be "over." This may have been always the case in our culture, but it seems to be at a new high. Do you people forget that the Velvet Underground sold almost no albums while they existed? That the NEw York Dolls, the first punk band, were ignored by the press?

              LoafingOaf -- Sunday July 16 2000, @02:33AM (#868)
              (User #778 Info)
               Fuck it, Dude. Let's go bowling.
              [ Parent ]
              • Re:Q review by charles byron (Score:1) Sunday July 16 2000, @10:12AM
                • Re:Q review by Kruzifixia Avenue (Score:1) Monday July 17 2000, @04:30AM
        British Isles (Score:2)
        Lets come clean, the author speaks of the Irish Times as situated in the "British Isles". None of Ireland is part of the Britsh Isles. Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The rest of Ireland is a seperate country. None of it however is "british" in any sense. This my homage to Mozzer's Irish ancestors. Geography first, jounralism later... English Blood, Irish Heart...
        Finnegan -- Tuesday July 11 2000, @02:06PM (#768)
        (User #1076 Info)
          Re:British Isles (Score:2)
          The last time I checked, "British Isles" was a geographical reference, and not a politcal term. The British Isles refers to the entire archipelago of islands off the west coast of Europe. This would seem to conflict with your "geography first" mantra. Rather than jump down the throat of anyone who dares critique Morrissey, perhaps you should get your facts straight. If the journalist had used the term "British Islands" that would be different, as per the Interpretation Act of 1978.
          keith_talent -- Tuesday July 11 2000, @03:40PM (#774)
          (User #865 Info)
          [ Parent ]
        • Re:British Isles by eventhorizon2 (Score:1) Thursday July 13 2000, @04:12PM
        journalists who lie (Score:3, Interesting)


        The reviewer says he's paranoid. And "Journalists Who Lie" is ghastly. Is that one of the songs that's evidence of the paranoia? Well, gee, look in this week's Morrissey-Solo news up above and we see a journalist who invented an interview out of thin air. So...is it really paranoia, or is it the truth?

        I'd have to say this box set is cool, but somewhat depressing only because it ends at the low point of his career. But thankfully he spit out three masterpieces in a row right after the low point with "Your Arsenal," "Beeethoven Was Deaf," and "Vauxhall & I," so it's not too depressing. Like most people, though, including probably Morrissey himself (??), I don't much listen to the "Kill Uncle" period stuff, with a few exceptions. But show me a pop singer who has lasted almost 20 years who doesn't have a low period? His was unusually brief. There really is only that one album that can justifiably be attacked as being half-assed. All the others may not appeal to all tastes, but they're all perfectly fine artistic achievements deserving the highest respect. And "Kill Uncle" is by no means AWFUL, just half-assed by his standards. When I first heard it back when it came out, I was afraid that he had given up. Thank God that wasn't the case.

        Anyway, we all know that the next album will be another high point. It's gotta be. The "Rare Tracks" were his last recordings and they are outstanding. To the NME, Q and company, those tracks don't exist, because they weren't on charts and apparently all they care about are charts (notice how they always mention how high a song charted, as if that means anything?). To them, also, "Beethoven Was Deaf" apparently doesn't exist, because they seem to think live albums don't count. I don't know... Lou Reed's "Rock & Roll Animal" is a live album and it's one of my favorite rock-out discs of all time.

        And maybe having more time to put an album together will be a blessing in disguise. Maybe this time the best songs will be on the ALBUM and not on the B-Sides! Although maybe the kook likes putting his best songs on b-sides, I don't know.....

        LoafingOaf -- Thursday July 13 2000, @12:13AM (#815)
        (User #778 Info)
         Fuck it, Dude. Let's go bowling.

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